Sit On Your Hands – Teaching Teachers

Over the years when working with anything to do with computers I’ve found that I learn best when I 'do the doing'. Having an expert at the front demonstrating without letting me have a go just doesn’t work for me. Nor does having someone reach over to fix mistakes I’ve made. No learning happens, it just doesn’t go in.

Surely I’m not alone.

I’ve made a rule for myself when supporting teachers with developing their blended learning skills, or when they are problem solving – Sit On Your Hands Bobby! They must 'do the doing' themselves.

It’s so very tempting to reach over and grab the controls, or leap in and say what the next step is, when sometimes a bit of wait time ensures they figure out the next step on their own.

Another avenue to explore when supporting teachers is to show them how to problem solve, and where to go for help. Keep this up your sleeve for a giggle http://bfy.tw/MNt4

Time spent on these may seem like eternity, but it is time well spent. I encourage you all to sit on your hands at least once this week! Then tell us how it goes.

I am loving your wait time Bobby. Allows me to problem solve myself and work things out. I definitely will remember how to do it next time having solved it myself, rather than being told, which fixes the immediate problem, but not the same problem in the future.

So… If I use my voice to type this reply, as I am doing now, is does that still count as Hanz hand-sitting time? One of the things that I have discovered is that if I wait long enough to reply to one of his those request requests for help, they usually figure things out for himself themselves. Hoops! Oops! Those are typos that I’m not going to fix.

Edit: I failed the test today. I had to fix those voice typos. That’s what I get for trying to talk to my iPad while I’m at the gym.